He loves me, he loves me not: Jenny Lennonfield sequel
by KrissaKittyKay
Summary: Basically, it's a continue-on from the last story. Hope you like! Quick note: it has gay content, so if you no like, then don't read.
_**Author's note: although these characters are of my own creation, much of the story line will more than likely be influenced by other stories, and may contain some characters from some of my other stories. Also, this is sort of a "Meanwhile, back at the ranch/sequel to Jenny Lennonfield." That being said, let's get started!**_

"Another fight, Charlie? Seriously? Aough, you can't keep doing this." Charlie Willis sat on the swing, and listened to his friend Jennifer Lennonfield continued to rant. "This is, like, the fifth fight you've started this week! You're almost 16 years old, for Chrissakes! You have to get a grip on yourself!" Charlie didn't bother to look up as he replied calmly, "Jen, he was insulting Will. I _**had**_ to do _**some**_ thing." Jenny turned to look at him, her face covered with an unbelieving look. She scoffed. "You couldn't have just asked him to stop?" "I did, but you know James: If he doesn't like somebody, he'll take them out." James Scott, the most popular guy in high school, was the school bully, a rough boy when it came to getting his point across to those he thought were beneath him, but quite popular with the girls. Jenny stood in front of Charlie, arms akimbo. "I know, but you don't have to start a fight with him!" Charlie, having finally had enough, stood up abruptly. "I know, but I did, it's done with, so sue me, Jennzie!" Jen sighed. Charlie crossed his arms. "Look, I get you're stressed lately, but you don't have to take it out on me." Jen hung her head, her hands in her pockets. "Whatever, man." There was silence for a minute or two, then Charlie sighed, dropped his arms, then held out his hand to his friend. "C'mon. We should get going." Jenny nodded, and took her friend's hand. With a small smile, she shrugged and said, "I thought you liked guys better." Charlie grinned, and they left the park together.

" _ **Miss Lennonfield, please come to the high school office."**_ Charlie's head shot up from his test as Jen picked up her bag and headed for the office. He sighed, and went back to his test, wondering what she'd done now. Charlie felt the hairs on the back of his neck, like someone was staring at him. He turned round, and saw William Ward looking at him. William smiled, and waved a little. Charlie gave him an awkward wave back, and William started writing something on a separate sheet of paper. Charlie turned back around to check and see if the teacher was watching. Teach had fallen asleep in his chair, so they were good. Charlie turned back to face Will just in time to see him throw a paper plane to him. He caught it, unfolded it, and read it quickly. He just _**had**_ to smile as he read it. It said _**Thanks for standing up for me, man. I didn't know you could kick ass like that.**_ Charlie wrote back his own plane. _**No problem, dude. Seriously, if you ever need backup…**_ He watched Will's face as he read the plane. Will smiled, and looked up at Charlie. _**At break.**_ He mouthed. Charlie nodded, and went back to his test. Jen came back into the classroom, her eyes red from crying. Charlie caught her eyes, giving her an inquisitory look. Jen shook her head as if to say _**later.**_

"Hey." William came up to Charlie, holding another paper airplane. Charlie grinned. "Y'know, passing notes in class could get you in trouble." William shrugged. "Yeah, well we didn't." Charlie laughed. William was a pretty cool guy. He had dark brown hair with crystal blue eyes, and he constantly wore a grey hoodie and maroon beanie with his faded jeans. Charlie had slightly reddish-blonde hair with green and brown eyes that shone out from behind his black rimmed glasses. Both boys were pretty well built, as well. "Hey, I can't stand up for you if we get put in detention." Charlie pointed out. Will dropped his gaze, and started scraping at the ground with the tip of his sneaker, something uncharacteristic of him to do. "Um, by the way… why _**did**_ you stand up for me?" Charlie could feel his face burning up. He quickly turned his face away so Will wouldn't see him turning bright pink. "I… I don't know, just felt like the right thing to do." Will looked up a little, his eyes betraying a deep-seated interest. Charlie had had a certain interest in William since the day he'd started at school, but could never quite place what it was. Will opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang, cutting him off. Charlie looked at him briefly, then headed to class.

" **Debate day"** in ELA class was usually Charlie's favorite, but this week they were debating whether homosexuality was something to be discouraged or encouraged. And Charlie had been picked to give the defense speech. Waiting for his opponent to be chosen, he started mentally writing a speech for the defense of homosexuality. He'd always wanted to speak out against the hate that gays and lesbians got, but this was too early for him. _**Easy, boy. Think of it as practice for IRL. You'll do fine.**_ "Miss Jenny, you'll be giving the offense speech." Their teacher, Ms. Walton, said as kindly as she could while still sounding firm. Jenny's face drained, attaining a grey pallor. "What? B-but, why ME?" Like always whenever a student complained, Ms. Walton ignored her, and simply clapped her hands together once. "RIGHT THEN! Let's get started. Each of you will be given 10 minutes to write a convincing speech for your respective sides of the debate. GO!"

 **~quick time lapse~**

"And, I'm finished. Charlie?" The class applauded as Jen took a seat. Charlie stood up, his palms sweaty and his stomach in knots. He swallowed hard, and began his argument. "I won't deny that you make a good point." Jen's eyes darted down to her shoes. "But still, homosexuality doesn't mean that you're any less human than a straight person. Germany used to kill gays and lesbians because of one reason: they were different. It's like with the Holocaust, or African-American slavery. Who are we to decide that something or someone must be destroyed because they're different from what you grew up with and what you know? For example, say I was gay. If I handed Cindy Wilson in the back there a weapon, and told her to kill me because I was different, do you think she would do it? Would you, Cindy?" Cindy shrugged. "I dunno." Charlie picked up a sharpened pencil, walked over to Cindy, and handed it to her. "You once told me it was possible to kill someone with a pencil. So again, I'm different. Kill me." Cindy dropped the pencil, a look of horror on her face. "What are you, crazy?!" Charlie smiled at her, and shook his head. "You did exactly what I expected you to do; you refused to do away with something just because it was foreign to you." He picked up the pencil, and headed back to the front of the room. "We only condemn that which we fear. Cindy was more scared of the fact that I was asking her to kill me than the fact that I was different. Some people are like that, which lets them be able to avoid getting in the middle of the muddle. But a lot of people are afraid of homosexuals, and fear begets hatred. Instead of trying to do away with something that's unfamiliar, try slowly getting used to it before you make any judgments." Charlie had to swallow a bit before he could finish. "At least try to get to know one before you decide that they should be dealt with." He sat down with a definite feeling that he'd lost the debate. Another round of applause, then Ms. Walton stood up to address the class. "Well, time to decide. If you think Miss Jenny did best…" A fourth of the class broke into whoops, the way Ms. Walton always instructed her classes to vote. Ms. Walton held up a hand to silence them. "And if you think Charlie did better…" Almost ¾ of the class burst into whoops and applause, both surprising and encouraging Charlie. Ms. Walton smiled, and raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, then. Charlie wins."

" _ **Fa**_ _ **-fa**_ _ **-fabulous**_ _ **!"**_ Jen had her IPod blasting as they walked home, singing along with RoomieOfficial. Charlie laughed as she walked backwards in front of him, dancing along to the song and making up gestures to go with it as she went along. He had to stop for a bit to catch his breath at one point as Jen spun on her heel, and stopped to face him with the most convincing flirting pose she'd pulled so far. _**"Like a pinup, shaking that-" *slap***_ Charlie fell on his knees, his chest hurting, still laughing. "Stuh-stop already! Oh, geez, hahaha!" Grinning mischievously, Jen paused her music, and put her hands on her hips. "Why're you laughing? I don't see anything that funny here." Charlie looked up at her, breathing hard. "Oh, geez!" He said again. Jen shook her head, and held out her hand to help him up. "That doesn't sound like something funny." Charlie took her hand, and she pulled him up. Dusting off his knees, he looked at his friend and smiled. "Just don't do that anymore today, kay?" Jen shrugged, and slipped her arm across Charlie's shoulders. "Alright, no more for today." They finished the long walk home together. After Jen went inside, Charlie turned back around, and broke into a run. He was going to be late.

"Dude, where've you been? You're, like, two minutes late." Charlie put his backpack down next to the bench William sat on, and sat down next to him. "Yeah, sorry about that." Will shrugged, straightening his beanie. Charlie turned away from him, his mouth turning dry. Nervously, he took a sip from a bottle he kept in his bag. Will tapped Charlie's shoulder. "Hey, what's the matter?" Charlie shook his head, turning back to face Will. "Nothing. I'm fine." He coughed awkwardly, and shifted in his seat. A few moments' silence, then Will took a deep breath. "Why did you defend me, Charlie?" Charlie could feel his face heating up again, but this time he looked at his feet instead of turning away. "Is that why you wanted to talk to me, just to ask me that again?" William shook his head. "No. I… Wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out at my place on Saturday." Charlie's head shot up, not believing what he'd heard. _**Did he just say… Okay, calm down, play it cool.**_ "Oh, so you're asking me on a date?" Charlie replied, laughing a bit. Now Will's face flared up, and he shook his head rapidly. "What, no! I was just… Oh, forget it." Now Charlie felt bad for saying that, but had it been necessary for Will to be _**that**_ defensive? "Hey, man. I was just joking. I would love to hang out with you." Will looked up at him with barely concealed relief. Charlie grinned as Will's eyes gained a slight sparkle like they always did when he was super excited. He chuckled lightly. Will looked a little confused. "What's so funny?" Charlie just shook his head. Will shrugged, and fiddled with the edge of his beanie again. The sun was beginning to set, so Will and Charlie decided it would be best if they started home. They said goodnight, and headed their separate ways.

"Oh, booyahkasha! It's Major ZombieSlayer for the win, baby!" Will laughed as Charlie groaned at his defeat. "Aw, c'mon! I was _**this**_ close! Gah, I hate being a peashooter." Will plonked down on the sofa next to him. "Hey, it's not your fault. I've played this game a thousand times, so I've had practice." Charlie shoved him playfully, causing Will to fall over on his side and start laughing. "Yeah, yeah. Yah great bully, you just like killing my peashooter." Will sat up, still laughing. "That too." Charlie rolled his eyes, and started up a new garden. "Fuck you." He muttered. Will grinned in mock anticipation. "Oh, please try." Charlie's face flushed a deep red as he tried to forget Will's last comment. A few minutes later, he lost to Will again. "Oh, come ON! What the – I _**planned!**_ I had a great plan!" Will leaned back in his seat, and winked at his companion. "Plans that lack the efficiency of experience rarely ever succeed, my friend." Charlie put his controller down, slid onto the floor, got on his knees, and started mockingly begging. "Oh please, great William-senpai, teach me how to win!" Will raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh-ho, _**senpai**_ is it? Wow, I feel so honored to be known as your senpai." Charlie blinked twice, then sighed and got off his knees. Shrugging, he sat back on the sofa, and grabbed his controller. "Yeah, well, 'honored-ness' noted. Now, let's get back to the game. I'm gonna beat you this time."

Sunday they spent together, too. The new Star Wars movie had just come out that weekend, and they both wanted to see it, so they begged their parents to let them go. Both sets of parents had argued that they couldn't go alone, so they both had texted each other at the same time, asking the same question: "Wanna go see Star Wars?" Charlie got to the theater a few minutes after Will did, so Will was leaning against a wall waiting for him. Charlie grinned as he walked up to him. "What took ya?" "Hey, my mom takes forever to get moving. _**YOU**_ try getting her to hurry up." Will scoffed, and stood up straight. Motioning with his right hand for him to follow him, he started walking to the ticket booth. "Two for Star Wars, please." Charlie smiled again. This would be a weird experience, but one he was open for.

"Dude, that was so weird! I mean, Lea's brother, husband, father, and son all gave up or gave in, but she doesn't. Damn, you guys are wimps, that bitch is stronger than all y'all!" Charlie started laughing at Will's summery of the movie, because it was pretty true. Shaking his head, he threw an arm across Will's shoulder without thinking. "Yep. Guess we'll have to face it, we're just weak." Will dropped out from under Charlie's arm, a weird look on his face. "Y-yeah. Okay." Charlie quickly put his hands in his pockets, his face warming up despite the cold weather. "Sorry. Wasn't thinking." Will nodded, and they walked home in silence. Will's house was the closest, so Charlie walked with him. When they got there, Will turned to Charlie. "Hey, sorry for freaking out on you like that, I uhh…" Charlie shrugged, and smiled lightly. "Eh, no problem. Anyways, it was kinda nice to hang out like this. I don't really get that kind of chance that often." Will grinned, and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Knock it off; you're starting to sound like we just went on a first date, or something." Charlie raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Oh, so you're saying that _**wasn't**_ a date?" Will scoffed and waved his hand, as if shooing the idea away, and started walking up the porch steps. "Yeah, whatever. See you at school?" Charlie put his hands on his hips jokingly. "What, no kiss goodnight?" Will grinned again, taking a step down. "Well, you didn't ask before." Charlie coughed out a laugh, shaking his head. Will smiled gently, taking another step down to him. "Hey, close your eyes for a sec." Charlie looked confused. "Why?" He asked. Will shook his head, still smiling. "Just do it." Charlie shut his eyes, still confused. Will gently kissed his cheek, then simply said "See you tomorrow, man." Charlie's eyes flew open in time to see Will slip through the front door, and shut it behind him. Charlie might have stood there all day trying to figure out what had happened if his phone hadn't gone off. It was from Jen. _**Daddy's taking me on a trip to his new dig. Probs won't be back for a while. Leaving on Tuesday.**_ Charlie started home, texting her back. _**Got something 2 tell u, not gonna believe it.**_

"Hey, honey. How'd the movie go?" Charlie took off his jacket, hanging it up before going to help his mother with dinner. "It went okay. The ending was pretty confusing, though." His mom turned around, looking puzzled. "Of the movie?" Charlie shook his head. "No, of the walk back. I walked to his place with him." Mom turned back to the stove, stirring a pot of sauce. "Oh? And how did that go?" Charlie slipped on one of his plain aprons, and started working on chopping vegetables. Sliding diced potatoes to one side of the chopping board, he shrugged and grabbed a head of lettuce. "He kissed me. Not like a real one, though. Just my cheek." Mom stopped for a second, just staring at the contents in the pot. Then she started stirring again, adding some spices. "Oh. So, are you alright, sweetie?" Charlie looked up at his mother, slightly ticked off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Mom shook her head, and threw a small handful of oregano in the pot. "Never mind."

"You're Serious?" Charlie grinned at his friend's pun. "Dead Serious." He finished. Jen chuckled a little, then was stern. "But, honestly. Did he really?" Charlie nodded, scuffing the ground with the tip of his sneaker like Will had the other day. Jen whistled low. "Wow. How ya taking it?" Charlie stood up, a little exasperated. "Why do people keep asking me that? First my mother, now you. Why do you think I would have any sort of problem with it? I'm fine!" Jenny raised her hands in a gesture of surrender in an attempt to calm her friend down. "Alruh-alright! Cool off, I'm just concerned about you is all." Charlie took a deep breath, and sat down on the bench again. "Sorry. I'm just…" Jenny smiled, taking her friend's hand. "I get it. I… Kinda have the same problem." Charlie looked up at her in surprise. "Cindy?" Jen shook her head. "No, Tony." Charlie's eyes widened in disbelief. "Your brother?!" Jen clapped her other hand across his mouth, silencing him. "Yes." She hissed. "My brother." Charlie looked at her hand, then her, then back again. Jenny removed her hand from his mouth, a fierce light in her eyes warning him to keep quiet. Charlie got the hint, and didn't bring it up again.

"Hey, man." Will called, taking the seat directly across from Charlie at lunch. Charlie smiled lightly, his face warming up again. "Hey." He started picking at his food with the Spork, not saying anything for a bit. Will finally spoke up. "Look, about yesterday, I, um… I'm sorry if it, like, messed you up or whatever." Charlie grinned, looking up from his tray. He shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. It's okay, really." Will rubbed the back of his neck, his face slowly flushing pink. "No, really. I just… Didn't really think it would do anything." Charlie was about to say "Don't worry about it", but seeing Will fidget the way he was made him wonder. "But it didn't." "Not for you, yeah. But I was up half the night with a stomach-ache because I was thinking about it too much." Will looked down at his tray, his face having darkened while he'd been speaking. Charlie stopped smiling, his mind starting to whirl, his heart racing. "What?" Now _**HIS**_ face started to turn pink, but at a faster rate than Will's had. Charlie's stomach started turning itself in knots, giving him a stomach-ache. His palms started sweating, and he clenched his hands so hard that his fingernails dug into his palms and made them bleed. "Yeah. I… Are you okay? You don't look so good." Charlie nodded, picking up his Spork again without noticing his bleeding hands. Will's eyes widened at the sight of his bloody palms. "Dude, you should get those cleaned up." He said, pointing at Charlie's hands. Charlie looked down at his own hands, and saw the blood that coated them. He shot out of his seat as if his pants were on fire. "Oh, _**CRAP!**_ " He dashed to the water fountain at the end of the cafeteria, and rinsed off his hands. The cuts weren't that deep, but they would hurt like hell now that he'd noticed them. Will walked over to him, his face betraying concern. "You okay, man?" Charlie nodded, rubbing his wounds and wincing at the pain. Will sighed, and gently grabbed his arm. "C'mon. I've got a first aid kit in my backpack." They walked back to the table, and Charlie sat down again as Will rummaged through his backpack. Pulling out his little first aid box, he went over to Charlie's side, and started wrapping his hands with gauze. Charlie turned away, and looked out the window as Will bandaged his hands.

"Alright, time for Hangman." Mr. Charcott, the English teacher, was a lot like Ms. Walton. He was fun, and did his best to make lessons entertaining. Charlie looked down at his bandaged hands again, a tiny sigh escaping from his lips. His mind went back to Sunday, and the front steps. The whole class was shouting out letters and phrases, but Charlie could barely hear anything. His heartbeat drowned out any outside noise as he thought back to when he was in elementary.

 _Le flashback_

 _ **A sliver of light shone through the bottom of the closet door. Charlie's knees were pulled up to his chest, his arms laid on top of his knees, his face buried in his arms, crying quietly. They'd found out about him and what he was like. They had been teasing him about it, putting him down. They kicked him, punched him, and slapped him. Called him "faggot" and all sorts of things. He didn't know what was so bad about being the way he was, he thought he was just like everyone else, except he like guys more than he liked girls. He sat in the corner of his closet, just crying, until his mother found him. She held him until he fell asleep.**_

 _Le flashback ends_

"Hey, c'mon. The bell rang." Will shook Charlie's shoulder, trying to get his attention. Charlie shook his head, grabbed his bag, and followed Will out to break. Charlie felt a tear roll down his face, but he didn't bother to touch it. Will noticed it, and gently wiped it off. Charlie smiled. "Thanks." He whispered. Will grinned, and threw an arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Listen to me. I need you to do something very simple for me, okay?" Charlie nodded. Will stopped him, walked in front of him, gripped his shoulders, looked him square in the eyes, and said through gritted teeth: "Cheer. Up. Seriously, you've been down since lunch, dude. I mean, come on. I couldn't have said anything _**that**_ bad." Charlie couldn't help it. He started laughing. Will grinned again, and let go of his shoulders. He gently took up Charlie's right hand, turning it over and inspecting his bandaging job. Jenny came bounding up to them, a child-like smile on her face. "Hey, you two! C'mon, I actually brought my boom box today, and I brought all the good songs, too! Let's rock out!" Taking Will's free hand in one hand, and Charlie's free hand in the other, she practically dragged them behind her as she headed for the picnic table in the middle of the playground. Jen plugged her IPod into the boom box, and cranked it up. Charlie started laughing. "Billy Currington? Really, Jen?" Jenny grinned, shaking a finger at him. Then she started dancing.

" _ **Miss Lennonfield, please come to the high school office."**_ Jenny slipped on her backpack and got up, a huge smile on her face again. Charlie shook his head, and kept working on the art assignment. Two hours with a canvas and oil paints was how the class went on Mondays, and Charlie was actually pretty good at it. This week, it was free subject, and Charlie had been working without thinking. Well, that wasn't true, he was aware of picking up brushes and using paints, but other than that he didn't pay attention. Miss Collins came around the class to check on progress. Charlie quickly gathered his thoughts just in time to see what he'd been painting. "Oh! _**Loveless**_ , interesting. I love that show. Too bad it got canceled, though." Charlie looked at his canvas. It _**was**_ Loveless, an anime' that both he and Jenny watched at least a thousand times over. Even though it only had 12 episodes. _**(I**_ _ **HATE**_ _ **that fact.)**_ Charlie smiled as Miss Collins went to the next painter. Will started hurrying as the teacher started heading to his side of the room, placing a different canvas over his first one. Miss Collins nodded at it, then headed back to her desk. Will relaxed visibly, then took down that canvas and kept working on the other one. Charlie caught his eye, and mouthed _**What?**_ Will shook his head and mouthed back _**Later.**_

" _ **Cuz you make me feel like, I've been locked outta heaven, for too lo-oh-oh-oh-ong, for too lo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ong!"**_ Jen's ringtone at 3:15 on Wednesday morning… Hold up, haven't I written something like that before? Oh, never mind. Charlie, without bothering to look at caller ID, picked up his phone and answered it. "Ugh, do you _**know**_ what time it is?" Jen's voice was panicked, almost like she'd been running from some sort of monster. "Charlie, I need your help, _**please.**_ " Charlie slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "*pfft* And what kinda help can I give you from the other side of the globe, silly goose?" Jen sounded like she was going to cry. "I've already called Jax and Tony, they should be at your place in a few minutes." _**THAT**_ woke him up. Charlie bolted out of bed, flicked on the ceiling light, and started rummaging through his dresser drawers for something quick to wear. "Waddya mean? What's going on? Jennzie?" He could hear her trying not to cry and a static-y noise, like wind going through the mic. She must've been shaking her head. "No, no. No time, just grab some things and get ready to leave. I had Jax call Will, he should be ready too." Charlie nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him. "Right. But what about school, the tests, our parents?" Jen cut him off. "No, no, everything's taken care of. Just get ready. They'll be there in, like, 12 minutes." "Okay, I'm almost ready." Charlie stopped when he heard her crying quietly. Softly, he whispered to her. "Hey, go to your video call for a sec." A click, then he took the phone away from his ear, and switched his video call on. Jen wiped her eyes, obviously trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying. Charlie gently stroked the screen, and smiled. "Cowgirls don't cry, remember?" Jen choked on a laugh, giving him a small grin. "Even cowgirls cry sometimes." Charlie nodded, then shifted in his seat. "I gotta finish packing. I'll see you soon." Jenny nodded, waved a tiny wave, then hung up.

"JEN! What happened?" Tony Lennonfield, Jenny's older brother, ran to his sister's side. Jenny was standing by an unconscious man lying on a cot. He was beat up pretty badly, and Jen's wounds paled in comparison to his. Jax's face completely drained until he looked like a ghost. "Uncle Dan? Holy shit." Jax whispered. Tony looked back at his nephew, obviously surprised. Charlie guessed that Jax had never used that kind of language before. Jenny buried her face in her brother's shoulder, sobbing. Tony gently held her closer, and whispered something that Charlie couldn't hear. She shook her head, still crying. Will hoisted his mom's paramedic bag higher on his shoulder, and went over to the other side of the unconscious man. Pulling out a small penlight, he checked the man's eyes. "Slight concussion, lost a lot of blood. How soon did you get him bandaged?" Jen managed to pull herself together enough to answer. "Um, five minutes?" Will nodded curtly, and pulled out a stethoscope. Moving the man's shirt slightly, he checked his breathing and heartbeat. "3 above normal, breathing is slightly erratic. How did it happen?" Jen looked to Tony, who nodded. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she started to tell them everything.

 _ **(Another quick note: while she's telling her side of the story, it goes back to the same POV line as the first story, but the telling is like in a flashback.)**_ _ **  
"What?!"**_ _ **Dad sighed, as if he knew I was going to react like that.**_ _ **"Honey-"**_ _ **"No, why can't you come with me? I'm not an expert with these things! I don't know old ruins like you do, Daddy."**_ _ **Daddy sighed again. Raising his hands in surrender, he took me back to his tent.**_ _ **"Alright, just let me get some gear."**_ _ **I started to think I'd made him upset. I went to him, and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a gentle hug.**_ _ **"I'm sorry, Dad. I wasn't trying to yell at you."**_ _ **Dad chuckled gently, grabbing a tool belt with different sized brushes and picks.**_ _ **"It's okay. I kind of expected that."**_ _ **I let go if him, and picked up a pair of flashlights. Dad and I headed back to the ruins, me clutching tightly to the piece of gold around my neck. Daddy showed me the door of the temple, a slab of stone with an odd indentation in its center. I slipped the necklace off, and slowly got closer to the door. Half a foot away, I stopped. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Then, I felt something. Like there was somebody standing in front of me. I kept my eyes closed, now in fear. Then a voice whispered softly, seeming to come from everywhere. '**_ _ **Who are you, and how came ye by the sacred amulet, child?'**_ _ **I couldn't speak. The voice sighed in a way that made it sound frustrated. '**_ _ **Just conceive your answer in your mind, and I shall hear them.'**_ _ **I swallowed hard, then started to think. '**_ _ **I came upon it in my library. It fell out of my book. I don't know what it is, or what it does. All I know is, it burnt my hand, and I don't like it.'**_ _ **I scowled as I thought that last bit. The voice chuckled. '**_ _ **Aye, it will do that. But still, ye have yet to speak your name.'**_ _ **I smiled. '**_ _ **Jennifer.' '**_ _ **Jennifer. An odd name, but a name still. What is it you wish of our resting place, young Jennifer?'**_ _ **I shirked slightly. '**_ _ **I just… Wanted to explore.'**_ _ **The voice was silent for a while. I decided to ask a question of my own. '**_ _ **What's your name?'**_ _ **A bit more silence, then the voice sighed again. '**_ _ **Edward Bowman.' '**_ _ **Well, Mr. Edward, may I have permission to explore your, um, structure?'**_ _ **Another slight chuckle, then he answered. '**_ _ **Yes, you and your companion may enter.' '**_ _ **He's my father.' '**_ _ **Oh. I beg your pardon.' '**_ _ **Eh, no need.'**_ _ **I opened my eyes, then placed the back of the amulet against the back of the depression in the stone. Turning it click by click, I recited the writings from the back of the necklace.**_ _ **"In terram miseriae et tenebrarum ubi umbrae. Servate luce morari iter, nec procul a patria. Qui manet periculum, si volueris ire tenes."**_ _ **The stone started moving. I pulled my hand away from the door, still holding the amulet. The stone slab slid upwards, and opened to reveal a long passage. Daddy walked up behind me, and placed his hand on my shoulder.**_ _ **"Took you long enough."**_ _ **Gently ruffling my hair, he went ahead of me, switching on his flashlight. Shaking my head, I followed after him, wondering if there would be any traps.**_

 _ **~two minutes after~**_

" _ **Sweetie, check out these carvings."**_ _ **I turned around to see Daddy step off the little trail to examine a wall carving. '**_ _ **Don't let him get any further!'**_ _ **"Daddy, don't!"**_ _ **I grabbed his arm, stepping one foot off the path myself. '**_ _ **NO, NOT LIKE THAT!'**_ _ **Too late I heard a low growling sound. I looked up, and saw the roof starting to move. I pulled on Dad's arm, screaming**_ _ **"RUN!"**_ _ **The roof started falling faster as we ran, getting closer the farther we ran. At one point, Dad tripped and fell. I went back to help him, but a piece of the ceiling broke off and fell on him, pinning his left leg. I heard him scream, but I kept my eyes shut as I struggled to lift the piece of stone off his leg. I managed to get it high enough for Dad to slide out, then I dropped it, helped him up, and we kept going. More traps went off as we got closer to the exit. Not fully aware of what I was doing, I shouted at the top of my lungs;**_ _ **"ED, DO SOMETHING!" '**_ _ **Okay, sheesh.'**_ _ **The ceiling stabilized long enough, but there were arrow traps going off as well. A few of the arrows that shot at me missed, but Dad got stuck with a few. One got me in the foot, and on instinct, I screamed in pain and stopped to check how bad it was. '**_ _ **Hurry, I can't hold much longer!'**_ _ **As he said that, a piece of rock fell and hit behind us, and an arrow hit Daddy in the side. He screamed again, and passed out from loss of blood. I panicked, and, regardless of my injured foot, I ran as best I could. We managed to get out, but barely. The door collapsed behind us, causing so much force that I fell over, and dropped Dad. He fell on his face, hard. I had to get some of the workers to help me get him to the tent, but then half of the workers started to panic. Some of the ones that were helping me with Dad left to try to calm things down, but it did no good. They blamed me, called me a "cursed wench." They tried to beat me and Dad, but the workers who were trying to keep the others calm did their best to stop most of the blows.**_

"But they still got some to make contact. I tried everything I could think of, but…" Jen started to choke up again, and Tony held her closer to him. Will had been fixing the bandages on Dr. Lennonfield's wounds as Jen had been talking, and now was shifting through his bag for something else. Charlie clenched and unclenched his hands over and over, taking over by disbelief, anxiety, anger, but mostly outrage. He was so mad at the fact that people would hurt her just because she had taken one misstep. He stood up abruptly, and walked out of the tent. Will followed him out. "Hey, you okay? You shouldn't grip so hard, you'll start bleeding again." Charlie looked down at his bandaged hands. "Sorry." He whispered, sticking his hands in his pockets. Will walked to his friend's side, and took Charlie's left hand out of its pocket. Gently holding it in his own, he turned it over, inspecting the bandages again. Charlie watched Will's face as he turned his hand over again, a growing calm starting to settle his mood. Charlie grinned slightly, taking his hand out of William's, then doing as Will had done. Will looked surprised. "What are you…" Charlie held his hand against Will's, comparing their sizes for a moment. Still smiling softly, he spoke a thought that had just come to mind; "I wonder how much bigger my hand is than yours." Will still looked confused as Charlie slid his fingers aside, lining them up with the spaces in-between Will's. Without saying a word, he gently folded them over so that their hands were intertwined. Will's face slowly glowed with realization, and his eyes gained a small sparkle. Charlie smiled again as the sparkle in Will's eyes grew. Will looked from their hands to Charlie's face, starting to grin himself. "What's so funny?" He asked again. Charlie shook his head again, and started walking towards an empty scaffolding. "C'mon." He said, pulling Will behind him. They climbed the scaffolding until they got to the top. Charlie lay on the floor of the scaffold tower, and pointed above him. "Take a look." Will laid down beside him, and looked up to where Charlie had been pointing. "Wow." As far away from any city lights as the dig was, it was the perfect place for stargazing. And there were so _**many**_ of them. A lining of the Milky Way spanned the center of the sky, while smaller clusters of stars gave off a small brilliance of their own. Will felt like nothing in the world, or out of it, could give him this same feeling of complete calm and serenity. He turned his head to see what other stars there were, and noticed Charlie was staring at him. Will sat up. "What?" He whispered, for he felt they had to whisper. Charlie sat up too, another smile on his face. But this time, it was a smile so full of affection that it couldn't have been faked. Charlie took of his glasses, and set them down on the other side of him. Will felt as if he'd been hit in the stomach, like all the breath in his lungs had been knocked out of him. Charlie's smile was a little more embarrassed now, and in the faint moonlight, Will could see his cheeks turning pink. "Don't look at me like that, it's weird." Will laughed, but it was different from when he'd ever laughed before. Even he could tell, it had more clarity, more purity, more joyfulness. More love. Will clasped his hands over his mouth, startled by the change in his voice. Charlie started laughing too, and his laugh was different as well. Will grinned, and dropped his hands into his lap. Charlie's laughter slowly died off, leaving an empty silence around them. Will shut his eyes, and just listened. There was a lot more to hear if he paid attention. He felt another hand slide over his own, capturing it in theirs. Will opened his eyes again, and looked down at his lap. Charlie's bandaged hand once more held Will's, but it felt more protective than earlier. Will looked at Charlie from the corner of his eye, and saw he was crying again. Leaning over slightly, he wiped away his friend's tears again. Charlie looked at Will again, his face shining in the moonlight from the tear trails. "Don't cry. What's wrong?" Charlie just shook his head, still crying. Will gently cupped Charlie's face in his free hand, and turned it towards him. "Hey, close your eyes." He whispered. Charlie didn't even look at his friend as he replied. "Why?" Will shook his head. "Just close them." Charlie shut his eyes. Warm pressure on his lips made him understand. Will kissed him gently, but briefly. Then he drew back. Charlie opened his eyes again, and let out a sigh of relief that had long been pent-up. Will brushed Charlie's bangs away from his face, and held his face in his hand again. Charlie looked at Will, a pounding in his chest. _**Could he…**_ Breaking any restraint he may have had left, Charlie pulled Will to him, and closed the distance between their lips, but this time, more passionate than he meant. Will didn't back down, though, and when Charlie broke it off, they both had to catch their breath. Will smiled again, his chin dropping against his chest. "You were right. This is a great place for stargazing." Charlie grinned. "I told you so."

 _ **What may have turned into a quest to protect her father for Jennifer has become an adventure to find themselves and each other for William and Charlie. But what of the temple, and the spirit who lives inside of it, Edward Bowman? Will Jenny, Tony, Jax and their friends find out the blessing and curse behind that ruby necklace? Who knows, I haven't thought ahead that far. ^-^ But, hey. I'm working on it. And I'll be back soon with another addition in the story of Jenny Lennonfield.**_

 _ **Fin.**_


End file.
